We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Menkemeller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
In August 2016, I was unemployed and depressed. After finishing graduate school, getting married, and moving to Florida – the dust had settled, and now there was nothing left to distract me from my NF2 diagnosis.
One day, while listening to the radio, a woman explained that when we feel lost or stuck, that’s when God is strategically positioning us to do something greater. The idea of Being Positioned immediately shifted my perspective. From that day on, I discovered a new hope and a sense of purpose. I knew that my biggest struggles would soon turn into my greatest gifts. And that no matter how much I had to suffer, something good was going to come from my condition.
Regardless of religious beliefs, the idea of Being Positioned can offer hope for everyone. No matter what you’re facing right now, you have a purpose and good things can come from your suffering. My hope for the nonprofit is that we can remind our recipients that despite their condition, they’re Being Positioned, too.
Christina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
After my diagnosis with a rare genetic disorder, Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), in March 2016 my entire life – especially my career, flipped upside down. I was finishing my master’s degree in social work to become a therapist when I found out that because of my condition, I was progressively losing all of my hearing and would become deaf. Working as a mental health professional no longer felt feasible, and I struggled to figure out what was next. A few months later, I got married and moved to Florida. Over the next year, I began chemotherapy and tried to settle into this new version of my reality.
Despite my best efforts, I felt like my future had been stolen from me and my purpose was gone the second the doctor delivered the news. Navigating life as a newlywed while dealing with brain tumors and hearing loss felt cruel and unfair. With a brutally shaken confidence, I couldn’t see past what I was going through.
Eventually my doctor decided to give me a break from treatment. We didn’t know how long it would last, but my husband and I decided to do something a little crazy…we quit our jobs and traveled the world for a year! Our adventure abroad was beyond anything we thought we’d ever get to do. We began in Dubai and South Africa, traveled all around Europe, and ended the year in Japan and Thailand. It was incredible!
During our time abroad, I began to realize the power of traveling as a tool for coping with a critical illness. Getting out of my environment, seeing new things, and meeting people all over the world, sparked me back to life. Doing things outside my comfort zone, like paragliding and petting a cheetah at an animal sanctuary, taught me to be brave again. It restored my confidence and reminded me that just because I have this horrible condition doesn’t mean that I can’t still live a good life.
As a mental health professional who experienced firsthand the benefits of traveling for breaking the cycle of depression and anxiety – I knew we had to find a way to do this for other people like me. So, we started the nonprofit, Being Positioned. We provide Make-A-Wish type trips for people living with rare genetic disorders. By offering individuals the chance to help plan their trip, explore new places, and take a break from their medical appointments, we hope to shift the way they view their disorder.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The idea behind the name ‘Being Positioned’ is about leaning into life’s pivots. Giving up my former career as a therapist felt very uncomfortable. It was something I had been working towards since the 9th grade. Since my NF2 diagnosis occurred just two months before finishing my master’s degree in social work, the timing felt a little ridiculous. I had made it so far to have it all suddenly taken away.
Crazy enough, my neurooncologist in Florida ended up hiring me as a social worker at the cancer center after my first appointment with him. I thought it was going to be impossible to find a job and start my counseling license. Who would want to hire a therapist who could lose their hearing at any moment? But he took a chance on me and saw past the negative of my condition. In fact, he reminded me how much better of a social worker I could be because of it. I could empathize with patients in ways that no one else in the hospital could – I was one of them.
Over time, I struggled more and more with my career path. It was emotionally draining dealing with people so sick everyday, especially since I was facing similar circumstances. And I was constantly exhausted. Long, early shifts while on chemo was taking a toll on my body. I knew working at the cancer center wasn’t a good fit for me long-term, and I started to doubt whether I even wanted to become a therapist anymore. That’s part of what led us to quitting our jobs and traveling the world.
Miraculously, I had another counseling job lined up for when we finished traveling. It was at a small, private practice and would work much better with my health situation. But something about it still didn’t feel right, and I began praying about letting go of my hope of being a therapist. Facing my future with open hands, I let myself dream again. I treated our adventures abroad like a total reset and felt strongly that traveling would greatly impact the next chapter of my career. Overtime, as the idea for Being Positioned took shape, I realized that my experience as a social worker and previous employment gave me the perfect foundation for what I’m doing now.
It’s easy for us to get stuck in a state of complacency and feel like we’re victims of our circumstances. But life has the potential to be so much more, if we’re open to the pivots and willing to let them guide us.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Last spring, we were in the early stages of planning our first fundraiser in the Atlanta area when I found out that both my brain tumors grew significantly, and I needed to restart chemo the week before our event. Every 3-months, I have a brain MRI and hearing test, which means every 3-months my life has the potential to change again. These intervals tend to hit at very inconvenient moments, and this was no exception. I wanted to cancel the event, but I’m a big believer in God coming through for us when we can’t do it ourselves. So I kept going and prayed desperately that it would workout.
Bouncing back and forth between my doctor appointments, networking as much as possible, and planning the event was rough. But after seven years of dealing with this condition, over 30+ MRI’s, and frequent bad news…I’ve had a lot of practice living my life despite going through a medical crisis. Once we found out that I had to restart chemo, everyone in our life rallied and stepped in to support us anyway they could. From creating the flowers, photographing the event, donating decorations, serving as our emcee – suddenly, every need was met. There were a lot of exhausting moments where I wanted to give up, but I kept clinging to God’s provision and saw Him show up for us in ways that only He could.
The whole experience was an incredible reminder that if God wants this nonprofit to be successful, then He’s going to provide for it. But I still have to show up. I still have to say yes. No matter how much I feel like saying no. And that I can do hard things because I’m not doing them alone. It also helped me to see that my resilience is more than my capacity – its based in my community. Don’t limit yourself, and don’t forget to ask for help.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beingpositioned.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beingpositioned/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beingpositioned
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-menkemeller-msw-944a02126/
Image Credits
Gabriela Castro Karlin Perez